3. Chapter Three

Chapter Three

A fter years of working her ass off and pulling long hours, Eva wasn't used to having responsibility-free time. Even the trips she and Jack would take were planned to the millisecond. Truth be told, all this sitting around made her itchy.

She liked order, organizing, and setting her world into place, and given the total upheavals in her home and family life, she sorely needed that right now.

She walked down the street a bit faster, even though stalking her little brother's job didn't make her feel better about her current predicament. The temptation to work from here grew stronger every day, since she was remote most of the time. There would always be emails from bosses and coworkers to tackle, given that she worked as a supply chain manager for NutraHealth .

Maybe she should've played with a sub at the club the other night. Domming was one of the few things to soothe her anxiety when she brimmed like this.

The huge rainbow flag waving in front of Whipped seemed to invite her over. Ever since she'd come out to her parents, hell, ever since she'd publicly come out about being bi, she'd grown more appreciative of these signs and spaces. After her parents rejected her and Micah, how they pretty much refused to associate with either of them anymore—yeah, to say she drifted put it mildly.

Fuck them very much too.

The glass windows gave an enticing glimpse of the inside of the coffee shop, with the red and black furniture and stark white walls, and the the sign with the coffee cup and a whip made it clear what Whipped was about. Eva tugged open the door, the enticing aroma of coffee greeting her. She'd had her first cup this morning already and, along with it, the memory of Pixie calling her Mistress. Unf.

Micah stood behind the espresso machine, his hazel eyes light and his smile genuine as he chatted away with a customer on the opposite side of the counter. Some of the tightness in her chest relaxed. She loved to see her brother like this—so open, so different from their upbringing, where forced smiles and schooled expressions had been the norm. At home, there had been only so much relaxing they could do, even in the privacy of their rooms. Where Mom and Dad had always been trying to shoehorn Micah into a masc and het role he'd never fit into, Mom had spent Eva's entire childhood nitpicking her into the ground.

Not ladylike enough.

Too outspoken and blunt.

The shape of a paper bag .

Those criticisms had stacked over the years, but when she'd moved to Reno, far away enough from their hometown in Genoa, Eva had peeled away the damage, layer by layer.

As she approached the counter, she settled her mask into place, years of experience in action. No need to bring Micah down with her main issue—getting ditched by not only her boyfriend of five years but their girlfriend as well.

He swung his attention to her at once, his bright expression not faltering. Apparently, he'd had a great night with Parker after they'd left. "You here for coffee or to hang?"

"A mix of both, I guess," Eva said, the itch under her skin intensifying at her aimlessness. She wasn't sure what she would face when she returned home, and though Jack had promised to sell her the house, that he and Sienna were going to move in together elsewhere, she wouldn't trust anything until it was in writing. She leaned against the coffee counter, scanning over the red leather couches, black two-seater tables, and the bright, clean environment. Pure comfort.

"Cappuccino or an espresso sort of morning?"

She relaxed a bit further. Her brother remembered her preferences—cappuccino or black coffee for a ruminate and stay a while or espresso for a quick chat and go.

"Cappuccino. I've got some grilling to do over the new boyfriend."

Micah got to work, steaming the milk and pulling the shots. A grin snuck to his face, even though he wrestled with it.

"No need to grill," someone said from her right. "Parker's one of the best people I know."

Eva recognized the woman from the scenes last night. From her slow, deliberate strides to the lift of her chin, she oozed dominance. While the woman was hot from an objective perspective—big masc energy, short black hair, intense, captivating features—she didn't ping Eva's radar. Mostly because Eva wasn't attracted to other dominants. That truth had come as a hard realization when she'd ventured into kink with Jack. Sienna had been a stunner: blonde, lithe, and a perfect submissive between them. But then Eva and Jack had grown less and less interested in each other.

Until finally, he and Sienna had decided she wasn't a necessary part of the relationship.

"Meg." The woman thrust a hand out at Eva.

Eva shook it firmly, the opposite of how her mother had instructed. "Eva. Micah's sister."

"Ah, so we meet at last," Meg said, her dark eyes flashing with amusement. "He mentioned you were in town. Did you check out the club night yesterday?"

Eva blinked, a bit startled by all the directness and the fact that Micah had mentioned her. They'd always been close, but in their own prickly way, since both had mile-high guards up. "For a spell." She didn't offer more.

Eva stood her ground under Meg's laser-focused gaze, refusing to squirm.

Micah passed her the cappuccino, and she gratefully snagged the cup.

"I'm taking a quick break," Meg said. "Want to join me?"

"Uh-oh, you're in trouble now," Micah teased.

"I'm pretty sure that's your job," Eva shot back.

"I can show you around the dungeon," Meg said, a knowing glint in her eyes. Well, damn. If one thing could suck her in, that would be it. The moment her brother mentioned he worked in a kink café, she'd been curious about their dungeon setup. Hell, she'd been curious about everything involving the place, and excitement trickled through her veins .

"Sold." Eva held up her cappuccino. "Is it okay if I bring this with me?"

"Absolutely." Meg gestured to the stairs.

"Don't corrupt my sister," Micah called after Meg.

"Hard to do when I was corrupted before you," Eva called back, not bothering to turn around. The fact that her brother had gotten into the kink scene too felt a bit weird, but as long as they stayed in their separate lanes, she wouldn't sweat it much.

Her footsteps echoed along with Meg's as she descended into the dungeon. Her skin prickled with anticipation to see what awaited her down here. Honestly, she'd seize any distraction she could. She was percolating with too many thoughts and not any outlets. She wouldn't burden her brother when she was already crashing on his couch, and her friend circle in Reno was unstable after her breakup with Jack.

So, instead she catastrophized inside her mind.

Truly, the healthy response.

She stepped onto the black-and-gray checkerboard-tiled floor, sparkling under the huge chandelier in the center. A St. Andrew's Cross and leather kink furniture were stationed along the back wall of the room, between comfortable-looking red couches. An array of impact play instruments were laid out across the table, everything nice and even, and she couldn't help but file away questions she had about some of the ones she hadn't seen before.

Meg didn't stop, though, but walked to the longer couch on the far wall, found a seat, and gestured at the spot next to her.

Eva took her time following, soaking in the cooler feel of the air down here, how the ambiance flooded her bloodstream with adrenaline as if she geared up for a scene. She settled into the leather couch beside Meg, leaving room for them to face each other .

"Okay," Meg said. "Don't think I missed the dodge-around. You can always tell me to fuck right off, but I'm going to dive in. Was anything last night at the club uncomfortable for you? Are you a seasoned Domme? New to the scene?"

Eva blinked, then blinked again. She should've anticipated this. Meg had pulled her to a private space so they could talk.

However, despite the direct questions, she wasn't asking her to vomit up everything she struggled with right now. Simply questions to check in on her safety, which signaled a healthy kink community. "New to the scene, but with enough experience to know I shouldn't be playing when I'm not in a good headspace. Nothing to do with the event, just circumstances."

Meg nodded. "I'm not going to push with anything that's not my business, but if you need space to unload, hit me up. Micah's one of ours, and you're clearly important to him. Would you be interested in learning the ropes more to feel comfortable? Or is it a bad time to play with anyone right now?"

Eva sucked in a long, slow breath, thinking over the words. Meg was beyond blunt, to the point, but hell, she also found her candor refreshing. It was clear the woman cared, and the offer of space to unload from a complete stranger came as a bit of a surprise, to be honest. She couldn't even get her friends at home to listen the few times she'd tried broaching the subject.

"I'm always interested in learning, and my headspace has been up and down. Some moments would be great for the stress relief of domming, but last night a lot of different stimuli hit at once."

"I approve of both of those answers." Meg draped her arms along the back of the couch. "Too many new Doms come into the scene feeling like they need to prove something. I've been a part of it for fifteen years, and I'm still learning. "

"Do you have any classes going on?" Eva asked. "At least through the next week while I'll be here? I live in Reno, unfortunately."

A truth she was feeling a bit too hard lately. The idea of leaving like her brother had, of starting over, seemed better and better the more time she spent here. However, this was his scene, his people. She had a house in Reno, a community she'd built there. Granted, one on shakier ground than ever.

"If you're around on Wednesday night, we host a private Play Night for the staff. Your brother's already told me he can't come to this one because he and Parker are making up for lost time. So if you wanted to swing by to try domming with a few of us, I have a particular scene I planned on playing out with Pixie."

Oh, hell.

The chance to get a taste of the woman she'd been lusting over was irresistible. Fuck, even the way she'd been sitting on the couch this morning, her oversized tee making it clear she wasn't wearing a bra, had been potent. Eva had wanted to peel the fabric up and off her just to devour her nipples over and over again. The woman probably let out the prettiest cries.

Guilt filtered in a minute later. Pixie was off-limits. She wouldn't want to cause problems between Micah and his best friend. Although, if she were only one Domme in a scene with others, that might be the perfect solution. A chance to experience what a perfect sub Pixie could be without wrecking anything for her brother.

"I'd be interested in hearing more," Eva said, her heart thudding hard. "I've co-topped before, but not in a more public setting."

"This would be the best opportunity to try it out," Meg said. "And besides, Pixie's one of my favorite subs to torture. Apart from my husband, of course. "

Eva picked at her nails. That could've been her, Jack, and Sienna—should have been. She'd thought they could be so incandescently happy, but then they'd left.

She wanted to ask Meg how she got people to stay, how she had a husband and multiple partners, but the answer was clear from everything about the woman—her poise, her attitude, her magnetism. Whereas Eva was dull, too finicky with her need to have everything in order.

No one could deal with that long term.

"Sure you don't want to talk about anything?" Meg asked, her voice softening.

Eva's heart squeezed tight. The woman welcomed her into her circle when she didn't have to. The last thing she would do was weigh her down with more problems. "I'll manage. Just fill me in on what to expect Wednesday."

Meg grinned widely, revealing her white teeth. "We're going to have so much fun."